You see my imperfections
Still You say I’m a masterpiece
A marvelous reflection
The image of Yourself in meYou paint with strokes of grace
Undoing my disguise
You say beauty lies in the true story
I read an interesting “take” on the concept of predestination in my Ryrie Study Bible notes this week. The gist of the idea is that God has chosen those who will be saved in that He already knows who will and who will not choose to follow Him. Sorry, John Calvin, but the first rule of our great and glorious God is that He does give us the free will to choose. He knows what we are going to choose even before we are born, but He lets us go forward anyway.
This isn’t to say that God doesn’t help us. Quite the contrary. Being perfect and all-knowing, He also knows what we will be asking for and which prayers He will answer yes or no before we even begin to pray. Jesus tells us to ask for our daily bread. He also tells us that asking for even the greatest of things with a true sense of belief will allow us to accomplish those things, as long as what we are asking for is the will of God.
As Ginny Owens reminds us in one of her great songs, we imperfect humans are a masterpiece to our Holy LORD, made perfect through the sacrifice of Christ for our sins. The grace of Christ’s love for us, the working of the Holy Spirit in us, strips away the facades required by an imperfect, sinful world. Without a body subjected to the desires of the flesh, we can more easily see our true story, shining the light of Christ in a world of darkness without fear.
How can we best be our true story to a world that likes to glitz things up and mask imperfections? We can begin each day by thanking God for His mercy and ask Him to make His presence known to us as we work our way through the facades of the day. Asking, believing, we can be strong and courageous because God makes us so.
And that is the truest story of all.
goodchristianfiction 